2013 Giro Rosa Preview

Giro Rosa organizers recently unveiled the special jerseys (from left to right: Points Leader/Best Sprinter, Overall Leader, Best Climber, Best Italian Rider, and Best Young Rider) that will be awarded during the 2013 race. (Nicola Ianuale)

The women’s Tour of Italy, formerly known as the Giro Donne, has long been one of the most prestigious races on the calendar. It has typically included some of Italy’s most difficult terrain and showcased some of the biggest names in women’s bike racing. After last year’s edition, there was some question whether the event would go on. Last fall, a new organizer stepped in, and the race, renamed Giro Rosa, is set to continue through 2016.

This year’s Giro Rosa runs from June 30 to July 7, and visits seven regions of Italy in eight days: Puglia, Campania, Molise, Marche, Liguria, Piemonte, and Lombardia. It is two days shorter than in the past, but the race plan is ambitious, cutting a long diagonal across the Italian peninsula. Giovanizzo, the Giro’s opening city, sits well down the boot on Italy’s Adriatic coast. The race finishes with a time trial in Cremona, a city in the northwest region of Lombardia.

Nineteen teams will head to the start in Giovinazzo. Specialized-lululemon brings a strong team to Italy this year to support Stevens and chase stage victories. The US national team is sending an impressive lineup that includes 2010 Giro winner Mara Abbott, sprinter Lauren Hall, and time trialist Kristin McGrath. Other teams planning to race for pink include Wiggle-Honda, Orica-AIS, Hitec Products, Pasta Zara, MCipollini-Giordana, and Be Pink.

The Giro’s trademark has been its high-mountain stages. In 2010, American Mara Abbott won a summit finish—and the pink leader’s jersey—on the Passo dello Stelvio. Past editions have also included the Passo di Gavia and Passo di Mortirolo. This year, the Giro skips Italy’s high mountain passes, but there should still be chances for the climbers to play.

An easier course does not necessarily make for easier riding. Motivated competitors can always make a hard race. The opening stage from Giovinazzo to Margherita di Savoia should suit the sprinters, and the men’s Giro has used the same finish in the past. Stage 2, in Pontecagnano Faiano, runs over a 99.6-kilometer circuit, and although it includes two climbs, it is likely to see a large group at the finish.

The third stage from Molise to Cerro al Volturno breaks the pattern and offers an invitation to the breakaway riders. It’s tricky, up-and-down racing of the sort that Italy does best. The Giro last visited this course four years ago, when Noemi Cantele, who finished third at the 2009 World Championships, won the stage. Stage 4 runs from Monte San Vinto to Castelfidardo. It is long (137.2 kilometers), but not especially difficult. Then it’s time for a long, 337-mile transfer from the Adriatic coast to Liguria, the region made famous by the men’s one-day race Milan-San Remo.

The next two stages are hard and hilly, and should do a great deal to sort out the general classification. Stage 5, which departs from Varazze, is short (73.3 kilometers), but has two climbs on the menu. The long, gradual Colle del Giovo offers a nice warm-up for the more difficult finishing climb, the Monte Beigua. The Beigua climbs for 14 kilometers at a constantly shifting gradient that hits 10 percent in places. Overall favorites such as Vos, Häusler, Abbott, and Stevens will have plenty of opportunities to go for the pink jersey.

The following day, the riders face another uphill finish. Stage 6 runs 121 kilometers from Terema Di Premia to San Domenico in the northern region of Piemonte. The race runs over mostly flat roads until the finishing climb to San Domenico. The San Domenico climb rises at a steady gradient and the incline in the final kilometers is in the 9-percent range. One rider who will be especially motivated here is Hitec Products’ Elisa Longo Borghini, who won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda World Cup earlier this season and will be racing on home roads.

From San Domenico, the Giro Rosa heads to Lombardia for the final two stages of the race. A circuit race in Corbetta offers the sprinters a chance to show their speed. It’s a stage tailor-made for former world champion Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda). The general classification riders will tuck in and stay safe ahead of the race’s final stage, a 16-kilometer time trial.

The TT course in Cremona is flat, and will suit specialists such as Stevens, McGrath, and newly crowned national time trial champion Ellen van Dijk of the Netherlands. The short distance won’t create huge time gaps, but the general classification could still change on this final day.

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